The present invention relates to antennas and more particularly to antennas comprising planar antenna elements.
The relevant classification in the U.S. Patent Office is believed to be 343/757. The closest prior art found by applicant is U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,099.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved antenna having variable gain and variable beamwidth.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a variable gain and variable beamwidth antenna including at least first and second generally planar antenna elements and an antenna element orienter for selectably varying the relative physical orientation of the at least first and second generally planar antenna elements, thereby selectably varying the gain and beamwidth of the antenna.
Preferably, the planar antenna elements include patch antenna elements. Additionally, the patch antenna elements are tuned for 2.45 GHZ having a bandwidth suitable for IEEE 802.11b(trademark) performance.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are mounted on respective ground planes. Alternatively or additionally, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are interconnected such that the power of the two antenna elements is summed in phase. Preferably, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are mounted within a radome.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are pivotably mounted so that the relative orientation therebetween may be varied. Alternatively, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are pivotably mounted so that the relative orientation therebetween may be varied over a range of at least 60 degrees to 120 degrees. Additionally, the at least first and second planar antenna elements are pivotably mounted about a single axis.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the antenna element orienter includes a manually adjustable element which is disposed outside a radome and is selectably positionable to vary the relative orientation of the antenna elements.